Elevator bucket with suction barrier



Jan. 29, 1952 W, H, KELSEY 24,584,025

ELEVATOR BUCKET WITH SUCTION BARRIER FiledFeb. 23, 1949 nventor;

WILLIAM H. KELSEY Patented Jan. 29, 1952 ELEVATOR BUCKET WITH SUCTION BARRI it William H. Kelsey, Stockton, Utah Application February 23, 1949, Serial No. 77,806 2 claims. (ci. l19e-452) This invention` relates to receptacles -or containers with suction barriers, arranged for receiving and dumping various materials, especially rock materials, such as broken metalliferous Iores having a varying content .of finely divided particles and moisture. In particular, the invention relates to such receptacles or containers as the `buckets of bucket elevators and the bodies of ore cars which `are tipped for the discharge of contents.

Wet material with a content of fine particles, when loaded into receptacles, packs against the kinner surfaces thereof and tends to produce a :considerable suction between the material and the inner surfaces of the receptacles. In dumping or emptying the receptacles, the suction effect ordinarily causes some of the ,packed Vmaterial to stick to such inner surfaces, and `after repeated dumpings to build up in the receptacle, appreciably reducing its carrying capacity and impairing its usefulness. This necessitatesshutdowns for cleaning.

Pursuant to the present invention, I provide a construction which effectively eliminates the said diiculties.

Accordingly, a primary object of the invention is to prevent the accumulation of matter along the inside surfaces of dump receptacles, thus insuring continuing availability of substantially the `complete carrying capacities 'of lsuch receptacles regardless of the `character lof material handled thereby.

Itis an object to accomplish the above in a simple and relatively inexpensive manner.

An outstanding feature of the invention 'is the provision of a suction barrier, in the form, for

example, of a flap rof sheet material secured `to `an upper portion `of the receptacle opposite the dump side thereof and hanging freely downwardly to cover such Asurfaces of the receptacles against which line, wet materialordinarily sticks. The barrier flap automatically 'swings away from the surface to Vwhich it is adjacent, during a dumping operation, to aid in freely discharging material from the receptacle.

' The barrier'flap is advantageously 'made of an abrasive-resistant sheet material, such as ordinary rubber chute lining or beltng, so that, when the dumping operation is completed, the barrier fiap again automatically resumes its normal position.

Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds with respect to the presently preferred forms thereof illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing.

"wardly "against the back vof the bucket.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a vertical cross vsection taken through an elevator bucket .and showing a ,suc- `tion barrier applied in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2, a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3,v a fragmentary View, drawn to a reduced scale, of a bucket elevator showing several buckets in section as they approach, .round and leave the elevator head pulley, centrifugal force being active in the process of emptying a bucket;

Fig. 4, a vertical cross-section taken through one type of ore dump-'car to which `a suction `barrier 'is applied in accordance with the invention, and,

Fig. 5, a similar verticalsection.illustrating one pattern of the `car-body and barrier ilap during the process of dumping a load by gravity.

Referring now to the drawing.: vthe embodiu ment of Figs. 1, 2 `and 3, wherein `the invention is incorporated in the buckets of a bucket eleva tor, comprises the usual elevator construction, including a belt I0, Fig. 3, `to which elevator buckets II are attached at conveniently spaced intervals, as by means `of `bolts I2. The belt runs over spaced head and boot ,pulleys :in `conventional fashion, only the upper or head pulley I3 being here illustrated. As shown, the Vpulley I3 turns in a counterclockwise direction so `that the buckets II pickup their respective loads on the up travel, indicated by the 'upwardly directed arrow, discharge their `loads by centrifugal .force `as they round .the pulley I3, and return "to the bottom of the elevator in `inverted position at the opposite side.

In accordance with `the invention, there is incorporated with each elevator bucket II, `a suction barrier flap I4 which latter is `secured .to the upper part of the bucket and `extends down- The fastening of the flap I4 is along fthe line of bolts I2, so that the lower portion is freeito move away from the back IIa as indicated, for lllus tration, by broken lines Ma in Fig. -1.V rits :illustrated, the flap yextends down it'o A:the Adeepest point in the bucket, and terminates at :approximately that point. This not only insures against undesirable suction, which ordinarily prevents complete discharge of muck and the like from the buckets, but avoids undesirable interference with normal discharge characteristics of the buckets.

Ordinarily, the same bolts that secure a bucket to an elevator belt can also serve to fasten the barrier iiap. As hereinbefore stated, the

to stick to an inner surface of a dump receptacle,`

thereby eliminating the building up of an accumulation of the material against such surface. For this purpose the barrier should cover` as completely as possible the surface to be protected against the suction effect.

As here illustrated, the barrier flap I 4 extends across practically the entire inner surface of the back wall Ila of the bucket, leaving however, suicient clearance at Illa between the edges of the barrier flap and the side walls Mb of the bucket, so there is nol binding between the two. This leaves the lower edge portion Mc of the barrier iiap free to float back and forth. At the same time, the iioating edge portion Mc is brought down far enough in the bucket, so that in loading, the tendency .fis to keep particles from lodging behind the flap.

When the bucket is emptying bythe action of Vcentrifugal force as aforesaid, the barrier ap is relieved and so springs away from the corresponding wall surface, somewhat after the manner indicated at the topof Fig. 3. Thus, the material at no time is given any chance'to stick against the back of the bucket. Furthermore, the velocity of the discharging material along other inside surfaces of the bucket, cleans and polishes those surfaces instead of having any tendency to stick and pack.

lt is preferred'that the barrier flap be made of sheet rubber material or light rubber belting having a certain degree of resiliency. Conventional chute lining as employed in the mining and milling art has been found satisfactory in thicknesses determined by the size of the receptacle and nature of its use.

The embodiment of Figs. 4 and 5 shows the invention incorporated in an ore dump-car, comprising a supporting frame 20 to which a dump body 2l is pivotally secured, as at 22, for sidewise tilting movement. The ore car, including its dump body 2|, is of conventional construction, one side of the body being arranged as a dump door 23 for swinging outwardly on Vthe pivot axis 24 to dump car contents 25 over the discharge lip 26 when the body is tilted into the dump position of Fig. 5.

Similarly to the case of the previous embodiment, a barrier flap, here designated 21, is secured to an upper portion of the car body 2l so as to hang adjacent the inner surface of the wall against Vwhich matter ordinarily adheres and builds up accumulations.

The flap 21 is here secured, for illustration, by means of a line of bolts 28, to the upper inner margin of that side Wall 21a of the car body which lies opposite the dump door 23, and hangs freely downwardly to comprehend approximately the entire inner surface of such side wall 2Ia.. The line of securement of the flap 21 is approximately parallel with the discharge lip 26, and the flap extends approximately to, but substantially no farther than, the deepest part of the receptacle.

From the foregoing description it will be clear that the barrier flap does not push material out of a receptacle, but does allow the material to let loose of the receptacle, so, as in the case of an elevator bucket, the material is thrown out because of centrifugal force, and, as in the case of an ore car, the material is thrown out because of the force of gravity.

It is to be understood that the barrier flap may normally hang against a surface when a recep tacle is emptied to protect against the suction of material loaded into the receptacle', or the barrier flap may normally hang somewhat away from such a surface when the receptacle is empty; the operative result is the same in both cases. That is to say, material loaded into the receptacle contacts the barrier flap, but in no way contacts the surface against which the -bar rier flap bears. Thus'the ordinary suction effeet is never against a receptacle surface so protectedfsince the barrier flap forms a sheet of separation and protection.

Whereas this invention is here illustrated and described with respect to certain presently preferred forms thereof, it should -be understood that various changes may be made in such preferred forms and various other forms may be constructed on the basis of the teachings hereof by those skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a bucket elevator equipped with a plurality of spaced buckets, adapted to discharge material centrifugally, suction barrier flaps in the form of respective sheets of flexible resilient material substantially covering the back inner surfaces of said bucket, and extending Yapproximately to'but substantially no farther than the deepest point of said buckets; and fastenings securing the respective flaps along their upper edge portions to the upper back edge portions of said buckets. Y Y Y 2. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein the said sheets of flexible resilient material are of the nature of rubber chute lining'.

WILLIAM H. KELSEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references, are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Norway June 25, 1934v 

